Return My Dopamine!
Kkyang!
"BBAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
It had already been three hours since I'd been abducted to the Tower.
"D-didn't I already say I was sorry?!"
"BBAAAAAAAHHH!!! GIVE ME BACK MY DOPAMINEEEE!!!"
There I was, protesting with every fiber of my being before His Excellency the Nongnong Emperor, sovereign of the heavens themselves.
For the record, my protest was only going to escalate from here on out.
The withdrawal symptoms of losing the Hunter Gallery were already coursing through my entire body.
"Give it back!!! My streak records!!! My mod bracelets!!! My unique posters!!! ALL of it!!!!"
"Wh-what in the world are you even talking about…?"
There is a famous saying left behind by Iserin, the world's greatest nongnong pretty girl.
The Hunter Gallery is life, and life is the Hunter Gallery.
To me, someone who had made that saying her life's creed, the disappearance of the Gallery meant exactly one thing.
There was no way I could go on living like this.
"Ah!! If Your Majesty has no more Hunter Gallery, then what point is there in living any longer!!!"
Like I could ever live without the Gallery? No way, no way!
"I-I'm sorry… If you're worried about the people outside, I will find some way to—"
"That doesn't bring my streak record back, does it!!!"
I thought about which day count my precious daily streak posts had reached.
Running the numbers through the nongnong–pretty girl equation, the answer came out to a whopping 499 days.
"H-how could you commit such a terrifying, unspeakable atrocity…!"
That's right. Our utterly villainous Nongnong Emperor had ruthlessly trampled the dream of one humble Gallery-goer's 500-day streak…!
"You… you demon…!"
And so I convulsed in anguish for a full thirty minutes.
"Wh-what would it take for you to forgive me…?"
When Lady Historia reluctantly attempted to negotiate, my true nature, hidden until now, came out in full force.
"Well, obviously you'll have to pay with your body, won't you?"
"Wh-what…!"
"Hehehe, come hither…!"
Finally, the moment had arrived…! The chance to scoop up the Nongnong Emperor and swirl her around like a helicopter…!
I hoisted Lady Historia up without delay.
"Pu-put me down…!"
"Don't worry, Lady Historia? It'll be over soon…"
"Sir Sirius…! Aid me, I beg you…!"
In her moment of peril, Lady Historia hastily called for her bodyguard knight.
"……."
"…Sir, Sir Sirius?"
Tragically, no answer came.
"Hehehe, did you really think I hadn't planned for that?"
"Wh-what do you mean…?"
Ah, she doesn't know, does she—
Using the Hero's power, I can hold back a mere bodyguard knight for a good hour, you see?
When Lady Historia realized her escort had been neutralized, her expression began to crumble, little by little.
Watching her, I wore a lecherous little smile—
and immediately reached out to pat Lady Historia on the head.
Pat, pat.
Pat, pat.
"Hehehe, maximum nade-nade on the Nongnong Emperor."
"Th-this is outrageous!!"
"So, don't you like it?"
"Uuu……."
Lady Historia had resisted with her whole body at first, but the Marshmallow Emperor's body was honest.
And so, as her expression began to soften bit by bit—just before my own two eyes could witness the full spectacle of the Marshmallow Emperor, relaxed and at peace—
Kkang—!
"Kkyang!"
"Tch. I come back to see you after so long, and this is the first thing I walk in on?"
Because someone had smacked me on the head, I failed to record a moment destined for the annals of imperial history.
"Wh-who's there! I was trying to record a sacred moment that will go down in nongnong history…!"
"*Sigh.* Yep, that's you all right…."
I whirled around in fury, and what greeted me was a voluptuous big sis.
The kind of confident mid-size figure that anyone would call stacked without a second thought. The instant I saw that figure, I knew exactly who it was.
"M-Master?"
"That's right. It's me, you hopeless disciple."
My teacher of magic and the humanities, bearer of the title of Sage, and Enemy Number One of the Iserin Marshmallow Pretty Girl Nongnong Association.
Sophia Aldebaran, otherwise known as Sir Deneb.
For the record, just calling her Master Sofi is fine too. She throws a fit demanding I call her Sophia, but whatever, who cares.
"Hee, it's been foreverrr, Master Sofi—"
Kkang—!
"Kkyang!"
"Didn't I tell you to call me Sophia?"
Anyway, while Master Sophia and I remained locked in our standoff, the Nongnong Emperor had somehow slipped back onto her throne.
With the adorable hairdo I'd given her patted back into its original, dignified state.
"N-no…! The Marshmallow Emperor's tousled hair…!"
"…*Sigh.* Well, you're clearly out of your mind, so you really must be my disciple."
While I despaired over the scene, the Emperor and the Sage had already slipped into some kind of covert transaction.
"Sir Deneb? I shall grant you a reward for your assistance."
"No need. I expected as much the moment I decided to bring that brat of a disciple here."
After what felt like ages of stun-status, I finally snapped out of it, and things began to sink in.
That I was back in another world.
Watching Master Sophia and Lady Historia talking, old memories somehow came flooding back, and that's what did it.
…Wait a second. If Master's here, don't tell me 'that person' is too…?
And the moment the reality of my return hit me, one person immediately sprang to mind.
"M-Master?"
"What is it, disciple?"
"Is… is she here too?"
"If you mean Sir Capella, of course she is?"
"KKIPPYAAAAAAAT!!!"
The greatest trial I'd faced in the other world. An impassable, towering wall.
The Saintess. Aris Spica, otherwise known as Sir Capella.
Frankly, in terms of taste, she and I were a perfect match.
Because Aris was a nongnong enthusiast on my level—or arguably above it.
Taken that far, you'd think we were friends who shared the same interests, but there was one massive problem.
"N-NOOOOO!!!"
The problem was that her beloved nongnong pretty girl was me.
"N-no. I need to run, and fast…!"
The instant I learned she was here, I attempted immediate escape.
"Where do you think you're going, you hopeless brat?"
"KKIPPOO?!"
Master Sophia grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and my great escape promptly dissolved into soap bubbles.
"B-but if I stay, my dignity will…!"
To me, thrashing and flailing in a desperate bid to preserve my dignity as a human being, my master tossed out a single line brimming with contempt.
"Relax. She's not coming today."
"…Ddyuttyaa?"
The Saintess, it turned out, was away from her post today.
…Hold on. Is this for real?
The most fearsome nongnong enthusiast in existence, absent on the very day the world's greatest nongnong pretty girl returns?
"…Did she catch some terminal illness or something?"
"No, nothing like that. She had some other business to attend to."
"Ohh."
"Don't get me started. You have no idea how hard I had to fight to stop her from abandoning her duties just to come see you."
Thankfully, it didn't seem to be anything too dire.
"Lady Historia? You're not lying to me, right?"
"I speak only the truth."
When a bonus cross-examination with the Emperor turned up the same answer, I could finally breathe easy.
And, filled to the brim with sweet relief, I shouted:
"NONG-KIYAHOO!!"
I get to keep my dignity for one more whole day—what a blessing this is…!
"…*Sigh*."
"…*Tch*."
I could feel two pairs of glaring eyes boring into me from either side, but honestly? Didn't care.
I am Iserin, the cutest, most lovable nongnong pretty girl hero in the world.
Another day of successfully defending my dignity…!
Meanwhile, it had been three hours since Serin was taken to the Tower.
Which meant it had also been three hours since Serin had vanished from the outside world.
"Iserin… where on earth did you go…!"
Yeona paced back and forth across Serin's room, anxiety written all over her face.
"Yeona, don't worry too much. Maybe she just stepped out somewhere for a bit."
"Who goes out for a stroll and leaves their phone behind…!"
"…Sorry. That was thoughtless of me."
Yeona was genuinely on the verge of losing her mind.
So desperate that she was earnestly praying for all of this to turn out to be one of Serin's mischievous pranks.
"Serin…"
Iserin.
She had plenty of odd little quirks, but she was still the most precious friend Yeona had in the whole world.
If someone had touched a hair on that girl's head—the girl who seemed like she'd snap if you so much as brushed against her—then…
Kkeudeuk—
She would find them and destroy them. No matter what it took.
"…Yes. Understood."
Just then, Semi relayed some new information.
"Yeona, we've checked all the nearby CCTV footage, and there's no sign of anyone who looks like Serin…"
"……."
Sadly, it was not welcome news.
"Yeona, chances are it's not an abduction, so—"
"…And how can you be so sure about that?"
And from that moment on, Yeona could no longer control her emotions.
"They could be a stealth or spatial-type awakener! If those bastards were after Serin—"
"Yeona, calm down!"
Yeona's face looked ready to swallow someone whole on the spot.
"Hey. Right now, finding out where Serin went matters more than getting angry."
"…Right. You're right."
Thankfully, Semi managed to talk her down.
"Let's search the room first. There might be a clue."
"…Ah!"
At the word clue, Yeona suddenly dove under Serin's desk.
"…What are you doing?"
"It's weird… it should definitely be around here somewhere…"
Before long, Yeona pulled something out from beneath Serin's desk.
"What's that?"
"What do you think? It's a pet cam, obviously."
A hidden cat camera Yeona had secretly installed in Serin's room.
"…Does Serin know you have this?"
"Nope? Of course not."
"…And you're sure that's, uh, fine?"
There were a dozen things worth calling out, but Semi decided to let it slide for now. Finding Serin was the priority.
They pulled the SD card from the camera and played back the footage.
On the screen, Serin was going about her usual daily routine.
Except this "routine" of hers was quite the nongnong-flavored viewing experience.
"…Is Serin like this all the time?"
"That's why I keep worrying about her."
"Wow."
Watching the footage, Semi felt a mysterious dizziness wash over her.
Grinning at her phone until the small hours of the morning, then drifting off to sleep without a care.
Sleeping in for ages, then popping awake to belt out bizarre declarations first thing.
It was genuinely impossible not to worry about her future.
…Granted, even in Semi's eyes, Serin was cute enough that she could just about get away with this kind of nonsense.
Still, the outcome of sending her out into society in this state was obvious to anyone.
"L-let's keep watching for now."
But the urgent matter at hand was locating Serin, so Semi let it go for the time being.
As the footage rolled on and on, the two of them finally found the clue they'd been searching for.
[Tonight's dinner menu iiiis~ Stir-fried pork~~]
It happened right after Serin finished cleaning, struck a proud and confident nongnong pose, and started heading toward the fridge.
Serin was humming to herself in that soft, squishy voice as she made her way over.
And then, right at her feet, a mysterious portal bloomed into existence.
Moments later, Serin was sucked into the portal along with a scream of pure panic.
"A sudden gate…?"
The two S-Rank hunters knew exactly what that portal was the instant they saw it.
A sudden gate. A gate that appears out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever.
They were so rare that even two S-Rank hunters had never witnessed one firsthand before.
"Oh my god… Serin, what do we do…!"
And if a non-awakened person like Serin had been caught up in a sudden gate…
"No. No, no…."
Yeona's rational mind had long since reached its verdict, but Yeona absolutely could not accept that verdict.
"That's… impossible."
That her precious childhood friend had been swallowed by a gate.
That she had almost certainly lost her life.
"Hah… hah…"
Just as Yeona began to spiral toward a full-blown panic in the face of that shattering reality—
"W-wait. Yeona. Then where is that gate supposed to be?"
It was a single sentence from Semi that steadied her.
"…Huh?"
"Even if a sudden gate appears, an alarm should've gone off within five minutes at the latest. Right?"
"Th-that's true…?"
"Well, there's no record of any gate appearing in this area today."
"What on earth does that…"
None of it made sense.
A sudden gate had appeared, yet not a single trace of that gate remained anywhere.
As if it had taken Serin and only Serin, and vanished.
And just before the two of them could think it through any further—
Dding—!
A single notification popped up on both of their status windows.
Until the Tower Opens: 239 hours 59 minutes 57 seconds
A notification announcing the opening of the Tower.
"…What is this?"
And this notification wasn't just for the two of them in Serin's room—it was broadcast to every single awakener across the entire world.
Ten days remained until the Tower opened.